


Knock, Knock, Laurel

by AudreyV



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexuality, Drunkenness, F/F, Friendship, Multi, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 15:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9130390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudreyV/pseuds/AudreyV
Summary: Three confessions of love, two unexpected couples, five heart-to-hearts, one stolen t-shirt, an epidemic of bisexuality and six knocks at the door that wake Laurel up.Canon divergent from the end of season 2.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I found this half-written in a drafts folder recently. It was an early attempt I made at a fill for Bonnie/Laurel, "I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified," which I ultimately managed with [The B Team](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7279360). With [Slow Burn](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7470525) and this, I'm now up to three fics inspired by that prompt. 
> 
> It makes me glad I keep everything, because once I dusted this off the second half practically wrote itself. 
> 
> This is present day, but diverges from canon after the end of season two. There was no fire, Wes is alive, the cops never found Rebecca's body and no one's heard a word from Frank.
> 
> Oh, and thanks to **sunshineflying** , whose [Like the Ones I Used to Know](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8927014) convinced me of three things: one, a well-written fic will sell me on pretty much ANY ship; two, there actually is a place for happiness in the HTGAWM ficverse; and three, it can be as satisfying to read a story that puts a grin on your face as one that puts a tear in your eye. (Also, I will be writing Asher as bisexual from now until the end of time, and you can credit/blame them for that.)

I. Michaela

The sharp rapping of knuckles on the door woke Laurel up. She tried not to be hopeful, but her stomach still dropped with disappointment when she opened it and found Michaela standing there.

“You look terrible.”

“I’m sick.”

“Something must be going around.Bonnie looked like hell at the office today,” Michaela said pointedly.She alighted on one end of Laurel’s couch.“I’m your friend.How could you not tell me?”

“I didn’t want it to be weird.”

“Look, I don’t care that you’re gay, or bi, or whatever.I just want you to be happy.”A flash of perfect white teeth.“So, should I plan to cut a bitch?”

 

 

II.Wes

A gentle knock on the door woke Laurel up.She tried not to be hopeful, but her stomach still dropped with disappointment when she opened it and found Wes standing there.

“I brought my notes from intellectual property, and some Chinese food.  We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”  Wes hovered awkwardly in the doorway until Laurel stepped back to let him in.  She flopped onto the couch while he retrieved utensils and plates from her kitchen.

The white takeout boxes were mostly empty by the time Laurel spoke. 

“I’d talk about it if I thought it would do any good.”

“It might not fix anything, but it could make you feel better.Would a drink help?” Wes asked, pulling a bottle of red wine out of a paper grocery bag.

“Maybe.”

“I’m going to find glasses to put this in.While I do that, why don’t you start at the beginning?”

“I guess it started with Frank skipping town.I kept going to his apartment, not for any real reason but… maybe I was hoping when I opened the door, he’d be there.” Laurel went quiet as she took a glass.

“Were you in love with him?” Wes asked, and there was something in his voice that didn’t make sense.Laurel shook it off.

“Yeah.”

“Are you still?”He waited for Laurel to respond, but the answer revealed way too much, so she didn’t.“So you kept going to his apartment…”

“One day I opened the door and Bonnie was there.I guess she missed him too.The two of them had— I’m not sure exactly, but they had this fight club.They were, she was… they took care of each other.” Laurel looked at her feet, dug her bare toes into the rug.“She was in love with him too. She’s never said it, but…”

“But she didn’t have to.Even I noticed a few things and figured it out.”

“I didn't. Why didn't you tell me?”

“You were with him.She was in love with him.”Wes shrugged.“I was in love with you.And none of those conversations would have gone anywhere good.”

“Oh.” Her voice was a half dozen emotions all at once but the only thing she heard in it was shock.

“Don’t worry.I can say that now because things shifted when I met Meggy and when you started…I want you to be happy.At least I don’t have to worry about her killing you.That’s a step up.”Wes smiled when Laurel stifled an awkward laugh.“So how do you get from you and Bonnie in Frank’s apartment, both of you in love with him, to now?”

“One day I said something that made her laugh.She got this look on her…” Laurel trailed off, lips tight trying to fight the smile. “She kissed me.”

“But… Frank?” Wes asked and Laurel flushed, embarrassed.

“Frank who?”

 

 

III. Asher

The rhythmic tapping woke Laurel up.She ignored the knock for as long as she could, but whoever was rapping a pattern onto her door showed no signs of going away. She knew not to be hopeful, but her stomach still dropped with disappointment when she opened it.

“No,” she said as soon as she saw Asherstanding in her hallway, both hands still raised mid-tap.“We’re not doing this.”

“Ten minutes, that’s all I ask.”

“Why are you here?”

“Because Michaela and Wes said it was my turn.”

“And Connor?”

“Says he has, and I quote, ‘no patience for that lesbian nonsense.’”

“Great.” Laurel folded her arms and rolled her eyes.“Remind me to tell them they all suck.”

“It actually makes sense though.Me and you. You know.” Asher made a vague motion with his hands and leaned forward in the doorway. 

“Please tell me you’re not hitting on me.”

“No!I mean, you’re a very attractive woman,” Asher added quickly when Laurel glared at him.“But even if I didn’t have a sweet piece of ass of my own, BonBon is my homegirl now, and I wouldn’t do that to her.I just meant us talking.Because we’ve both—“

“Yes, I know.”

“— had sex with Bonnie.”

“When I said, ‘I know,’ I meant for you to not say it out loud.”

“I toned it down,” Asher said earnestly.“I was going to say ‘experienced the gloriousness that is Bonnie’s vagina.’”

“I hate you.”

He shrugged.“Everybody does.Can I come in or do I have to say my piece in the hallway?”

Laurel reluctantly stepped back so Asher could enter.She watched as he picked up the case of beer that was sitting at his feet.

“I stopped at the beer distributor on the way, so it’s cold.”

“How thoughtful,” Laurel deadpanned, but she accepted a can anyway and sat on the couch.He sat beside her and held up his beer in a toast.

“To however many Coronas it takes for this conversation to be less awkward.” 

It took three (almost four) before he looked her in the eye and took a deep breath. 

“Look, Bonbon is a complicated lady.I mean, even if the gay thing is NBD to her—and trust me, even if you’re totally down with the gay stuff, when you realize you’re Down With the Gay Stuff it pretty much always IS a big deal—there’s also the whole intimacy thing and… ” Asher’s face became very serious and Laurel knew what was coming.“Look, there’s a lot of really bad stuff in her past, and it adds up to her not being able to trust people most of the time.”

“I know,” Laurel said.

“You know?”

“She told me what happened when she was a kid.”

“Wow.That’s big.” He leaned back in his seat.“She didn’t tell me.”

“Annalise told you.” Laurel popped open another pair of beers and launched both tabs toward the kitchen sink.“I know that too.”

“I guess you know everything then.” Asher looked a little bit glum as he knocked his can against hers in a morose toast.“Do you know she loves you?”

“She might.” Laurel felt her eyes getting misty and full, but she forced everything down deep inside.“But she’s ashamed of this too, and I can’t live my life like that, you know?”

Asher nodded.“I mean, not really, but yes definitely.I get it.Just remember, keeping stuff that makes her happy a secret is pretty much BonBon’s modus operandi. Like, if Annalise finds out she loves you, you become another thing Annalise can use to hurt her.”

“I know.” She sighed heavily and took a long swig of her beer. “I just hate feeling like I'm the side piece she's cheating on her real girlfriend with.”

“Okay, not gonna lie, I used to wonder if Bonnie and Annalise ever…” Asher paled at the expression on Laurel’s face. “I am so uncomfortable right now.”

“It’s not about sex. You can’t look at everything Bonnie’s done for her and tell me I won’t always be second to Annalise.”

“I mean, she's a workaholic, so—”

“I don't mean work.”

“Wait, then what do you mean?”

Laurel pressed her lips together in a thin line, then forced a smile.

“Nothing. That was just me ranting because I'm sad and pissed and drunk. Ignore me.”

“Okay.” Asher nodded slowly. “Don’t worry, she’ll come around, champ,” he said, playfully punching Laurel’s arm.

“Maybe.”

“She will.” Asher frowned and looked down into his beer.“She’s being stupid right now, but she still deserves to be happy. You both do. So don't be stupid too.”

Laurel nodded like she agreed (and maybe she did.)“Thanks, Asher. This was less excruciating than I expected it to be.”

“Aww, thanks pal.You want me to get lost?”

“There’s still beer left.”Laurel waved vaguely at the box on the floor.“I say we drink until we don’t feel feelings.”

Asher grinned.“Lemme text my boo and let him know I’ll be coming home late, wasted, and probably hungry for the D, then I gleefully accept your invitation.”

 

 

IV. Annalise

The firm, sharp knock on the door woke Laurel up.Her stomach dropped with terror when she opened it and found Annalise standing there.

“Wes said you’re sick.” She pushed her way past Laurel, into the apartment, putting her purse down on an end table and taking off her coat as if she expected to stay a while.

“Annalise!I wasn’t expect—“

“No, apparently you weren’t,” Annalise glanced disdainfully at the pile of crushed Corona cans on her living room floor.

Laurel crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged like Annalise’s judgement of her didn’t matter.

“I’m sick.”

“We both know you’re not sick.” Annalise’s sharp gaze went right through Laurel. Her voice dropped low. “I need the two of you back at work, so work it out.”

Every inch of Laurel’s body went cold and still.“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Annalise laughed, sharp and mirthless.“First Frank, now you’re ruining Bonnie too?”

“Screw you,” Laurel muttered.

“What was that, Miss Castillo?” Annalise asked, the taunt clear in her voice.

“I said, screw you.”Laurel’s fists clenched at her sides but she focused on breathing slowly and choosing her words with care.“Frank left, and that wasn’t my fault.And you being scared that you’re going to lose her to me?Also not my fault.And this may shock you, but there’s no “Property of Annalise Keating” stamp on Bonnie’s ass, and believe me, I’ve looked.” Laurel’s gut lurched but she kept her tone smooth and firm. “You may be my boss and you may know all the bad things I’ve done, and god knows what you know about her, but you don’t get to dictate this because it’s none of your fucking business.”

A glint of a smile appeared on Annalise’s lips as she stood placidly next to Laurel’s couch. 

“There’s our girl.You’re pissed off now, right?Ready for a fight?” Annalise asked, standing and pulling on her coat. She looked Laurel up and down, and Laurel resisted the urge to cower in supplication. “I think if you loved her, you’d be over there telling her that, not hiding in your apartment marinating in booze, eating pizza and reading trashy magazines.” 

Annalise grabbed her purse and walked to the door, turning before she left to hiss, “Stop being a coward, grow a pair, go over there and fight for her.”

She disappeared from Laurel’s living room as abruptly as she’d arrived.Laurel felt herself bending.She could imagine getting in the shower, getting dressed, taking a car over to Bonnie’s… but she had no idea what she’d find when she knocked on the door. 

It was late.Bonnie was probably asleep.Tomorrow morning she’d be sober and ready to have that conversation.Laurel told herself Annalise couldn’t blame her for waiting until then as she grabbed the bottle of tequila from her kitchen island and sunk back into the couch with it. 

 

 

V. Connor

The pounding on the door woke Laurel up.She tried not to be hopeful, but her stomach still dropped with disappointment when she opened it and found Connor standing there.

“Call Bonnie, she thinks you’re dead or you hate her or something.”

“What?”

“What part of that is confusing?Okay, so Bonnie— you remember, blonde, critical, used to fuck Asher but has been ‘secretly’ fucking you for months?”Connor rolled his eyes as he took in the pile of tissues, scattered beer cans, and the empty liquor bottle on the coffee table.“So Bonnie has called you an insane number of times and you didn’t pick up your phone.”

Laurel went to her phone and saw the notifications for the missed calls.“I fell asleep.”

“Judging by the way you smell, my bet is on ‘passed out.’” 

“Why did she call you?”

“Because god hates me and doesn’t want me to be sleeping peacefully beside my snoring boyfriend at 2AM?”Connor’s expression softened.“Or maybe because I’m an expert at ruining relationships.All I know is that she’s losing it and babbled at me for like fifteen minutes about how she screwed up.”He leaned toward her conspiratorially.“Not gonna lie, it got boring.Also, I think she might be wasted, which is why I came over here. Wasted Laurel is a regular in my life and I know how to handle her.Wasted Bonnie might look like the hardass I know and loathe, but she’s way too human for my taste.”

“Be nice.She’s actually really—“

“I’m sorry, did it seem like I cared?Because I totally don’t.But here’s the deal.You will put on pants and I’ll drive your drunk ass over there, but then I’m going home and if either of you Type-A bisexuals calls, I’m not going to pick up.Asher would, because he’s nicer than me, but he’s still sleeping off your afternoon.Thanks for that, by the way.So, deal?”

“Okay,” Laurel said after a moment of contemplation.She grabbed a pair of sweatpants off the floor and pulled them on. 

“Awesome,” Connor deadpanned. He frowned.“I just realized I’ve basically fucked Frank by proxy. I didn’t know it was possible to be grossed out and turned on at the same time.”

“Connor—”

“Did Frank and Bonnie ever do it? Because that’s even fewer degrees of separation.” Connor’s face became serious. “I've fucked Annalise by proxy now too, haven't I? God, Waitlist kills one guy and then suddenly everyone but me is bi and fucking each other.”

“I’m not bisexual.”

“You're gone full lez?”

“No, I'm queer.‘Bisexual’ implies there’s a gender binary,” Laurel said, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Connor, who chuckled.

“Let me guess… pre-law major, gender studies minor?”

“Double major.”

Connor rolled his eyes and gestured to the door.“Well, Ms. More-Woke-Than-Thou, put on your shoes so we can get this womyn-with-a-y drama fuckshow on the road.”

 

 

VI. Bonnie

“Bonnie?”  Laurel gently rapped her knuckles against the apartment door again.  “Connor dropped me off.  He said you called him and that you sounded sad and pretty drunk.”  She waited, listening for the sound of movement inside the apartment.  When there was none, she continued.  “Why Connor and not Wes or Michaela, I don’t know.  I’m pretty sure he hates both of us, actually, so it’s kind of a huge deal that he came over to try to help.”

Laurel sat down beside the door, stretching out her legs.“If you’re not going to let me in, I’m going to keep talking to myself in your hallway.Your neighbors are going to get suspicious.Someone might call the police, even.Probably Mrs. Daniels in 4G.She hates me already because of what happened the day we won the Garrett trial.”Her voice dropped, cracked as the memory flared.“Do you remember that?”

The deadbolt turned with a click, then the door swung open.Laurel peered around and saw Bonnie sitting on the floor on the other side of it.Her nose was red and her face was tear-streaked. An extremely oversized Brown t-shirt (which Laurel had been trying to find for weeks) enveloped her small frame.

Laurel scooted inside and pushed the door shut so she could lean her back against it.

“You kissed Wes and you’re not out to Michaela,” Bonnie mumbled.

“What?”

“That’s why I called Connor.I thought about calling Asher instead but I thought that might be too weird.”

“Well, it turns out I am out to Michaela and, lucky me, I’ve already had some weird Asher time.”Laurel risked a small smile.“He came over this afternoon to try to talk some sense into me about you.”

“He did?”

“Yep.He suggested he was uniquely qualified to advise me, since both of us have ‘experienced the gloriousness’ that is your vagina.”

Bonnie blinked, the lines on the bridge of her nose deepening as she frowned.“Asher trying to talk some sense into anyone seems like a terrible idea and I am going to forget he ever said that.”

“Sounds smart,” Laurel agreed.She retrieved a bag of M&Ms from her purse, took a few and then offered them to Bonnie. 

“I called Annalise,” Bonnie blurted out as she handed the bag back.

“Before or after you got wasted?”

“During. I told her about us.” She paused, but Laurel sensed there was something more, so she waited silently for Bonnie to continue.“That I think I’m in love with you and I’m terrified.”

Laurel nodded, stunned into silence.She considered her response as she watched Bonnie nervously rub the back of her neck and tuck her legs underneath her. 

“How did she react?” she eventually managed.

“Well, she didn’t fire me.”Bonnie’s head drooped and she leaned back against the wall. Laurel pushed away the impulse to kiss her. 

“She wouldn’t.She knows her life would collapse without you.”

“Maybe.”Bonnie sighed.“I shouldn’t have tried to keep this a secret, Laurel.You deserve better than that.”

“You’re right.I do.”Laurel moved closer and pushed a wayward lock of blonde hair off Bonnie’s face.“But so do you.Just tell me the truth.Are you ashamed of this? Or of me?”

“God, no.Neither.” 

“Then what is it?”

“I was scared telling Annalise would burn that bridge,” Bonnie said quietly.  “And then when you leave me, I’ll have no one at all.”

Laurel glanced around Bonnie’s house, which was perfectly clean like the set of a commercial.  There were no discarded bottles or half-empty takeout containers, no friends knocking at the door with Chinese food or good advice.  Suddenly she felt lucky and sad and fiercely protective all at once.

“What makes you think I’ll leave?”

“Everyone leaves,” she mumbled and Laurel knew they were both thinking of Frank. 

“Annalise came to my apartment.”

Bonnie’s eyes went wide.  “She did?”

“Yep.  I’m guessing right after you called her.  She said if I loved you, I’d get my ass over here and tell you that,” Laurel said quietly. 

“And?”

Laurel took a deep breath and leaned forward, tipping Bonnie’s chin up so she could look into her eyes.

“I got my ass over here and I’m saying it now.”


End file.
